BRITAIN: A former police constable who worked on the investigation into the murders of schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman was yesterday given a six-month jail term after admitting child pornography offences.
Anthony Goodridge (34), of Ely, Cambridgeshire, admitted possessing more than 300 indecent images of girls as young as four.
Some of the images included film of adults having sex with children. Two contained film classed as "sadism or bestiality", Ipswich Crown Court heard.
Judge John Devaux was told that Goodridge, who is married with sons aged six and 14 months, had "heaped shame on himself, his family and the police". Goodridge, who worked for Cambridgeshire Police for more than eight years, was an exhibits officer during the investigation into the murders last year of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, both aged 10.
He was dismissed from the force earlier this month.
Mr Andrew Campbell-Tiech, prosecuting, told the court that in 1999 police had begun an investigation into a US Internet firm called Landslide Productions. The company provided access to pornographic images of children to credit-card subscribers. Goodridge's details were found in the company's records and he was one of thousands of people arrested around the world.
Police raided his home last September and seized a computer. They found pornographic stills of young girls, film clips and short films, Mr Campbell-Tiech said. He added: "The titles left nothing to the imagination."
Mr Campbell-Tiech said that Goodridge had co-operated fully with police after his arrest. "He told them that he would retreat into a private world. He used that private world as a means of escape from the pressure of his work and at times pressures of home. He said that he loved his children deeply and would never abuse a child.
"He acknowledged the contradiction between his own personal quest for sexual satisfaction through paedophilic images of this sort and his work and his role as a father."
In mitigation, Ms Maria Dineen told the court: "Anthony Goodridge acknowledges that by his conduct he has heaped shame not simply upon himself but upon his family, his friends and, of course, Cambridgeshire Constabulary . . . He is the first to admit that he has a problem and he is in desperate need of help. His disgrace and humiliation have been complete and, of course, very public."
The judge declared that there was no alternative to a custodial sentence. He said that Goodridge would serve three months of the sentence, with the remaining three months being suspended.
"Some of these images depict scenes in which the child victim is obviously distressed. You told a psychiatrist that some of the children must have gone through hell," he said.
Det Chief Insp John Birch, who led the investigation, said: "The police are quite satisfied with the outcome of this case. We [the police\] take this type of offence very seriously and we want to send out a message that nobody is above the law."